Why the Wilderness: a Forty Day Devotional Guide: God Sends Angels After We Go Through!

By Dr. Walter M. Brown Jr

Jesus' wilderness experience in the fourth chapter of Matthew formed the basis for his inspired relationship with God. His devotional life was key to navigating difficult times. Jesus knew how to systematically get into the presence the Father. Dr. Brown has compiled a forty-day devotional guide to assist believers in their personal devotional studies.

This 40-Day devotional guide presents a systematic approach used by the author as he negotiated the wilderness of a wartime deployment and his failure to select for promotion. He learned to journal his journeys through the wilderness. This book contains space for the reader to do the same. Lessons learned can advance our present spiritual development. These valuable lessons can be presented to others.

The final added feature is that these devotional stories actually take you onboard a USS Aircraft Carrier. Everyday at sea is unique and challenging. These presented situations take you where Sailors live, work, and eat ? a unique perspective of life underway. Readers will come away with a greater appreciation for the unrivaled competence of our sea service personnel and the power of God's Word.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Nov 29, 2007
• ISBN: 9781462095087

Dr. Walter M. Brown Jr

Dr. Brown references his time onboard the USS JOHN F. KENNEDY (CV-67) to create a devotional guide that juxtaposes scripture against real-life activities on a deployed carrier. Facing the uncertainties of war and personal disappointment, he established a unique time of devotion to God. He and his wife of 32 years are Florida residents.

Book preview

Why The Wilderness:

A Forty Day Devotional Guide

Dr. Walter M. Brown, Jr. Pastor, Believer’s House Worldwide Ministries,

Jacksonville, FL. Author of Igniting Prayer’s Passion and Power In Us and Why the Wilderness? God Sends Angels After We Go Through!

iUniverse, Inc.

New York Lincoln Shanghai

Why The Wilderness: A Forty Day Devotional Guide

Copyright © 2007, 2008 by Walter M. Brown, Jr.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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ISBN: 978-0-595-47766-1

ISBN: 978-1-4620-9508-7 (eBook)

Printed in the United States of America

Contents

Day One

Day Two

Day Three

Day Four

Day Five

Day Six

Day Seven

Day Eight

Day Nine

Day Ten

Day Eleven

Day Twelve

Day Thirteen

Day Fourteen

Day Fifteen

Day Sixteen

Day Seventeen

Day Eighteen

Day Nineteen

Day Twenty

Day Twenty-One

Day Twenty-Two

Day Twenty-Three

Day Twenty-Four

Day Twenty-Five

Day Twenty-Six

Day Twenty-Seven

Day Twenty-Eight

Day Twenty-Nine

Day Thirty

Day Thirty-One

Day Thirty-Two

Day Thirty-Three

Day Thirty-Four

Day Thirty-Five

Day Thirty-Six

Day Thirty-Seven

Day Thirty-Eight

Day Thirty-Nine

Day Forty

There are only three kinds of people navigating their relationship with God: those who are in the wilderness, those who have recently come out of the wilderness, and those who are about to go through the wilderness. The Apostle Paul sends a powerful, necessary message for all of us concerning these barren times.

Acts 17:27-28 (KJV)²⁷ That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:²⁸ For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

God is always close by; we just have to expand our awareness of God’s presence. I discovered that an increase in my personal devotional life was the best way to increase my recognition of God. This was extremely important to me. I faced the uncertainties of a wartime deployment after having received distressing news from my captain: chaplain, you were not selected for promotion; your name was not on the list. The parent book, Why the Wilderness, describes in detail my struggles.

However, I had to position myself so that I could overcome these struggles. I looked more closely and began to understood better the message of the Apostle Paul in Acts 17: God is not only in us but in everything we experience. I began to see the most difficult chores and even the most simplistic tasks performed by the crew all under the same powerful prism: the word of scripture and the supremacy of God! When my devotional awareness increased, I was able to not only overcome feelings of rejection but provide the quality of ministry that established the USS JOHN F. KENNEDY as a place where God was revealed time and time again.

I invite you to take advantage of the devotionals but also the questions, reflections, and space for note-taking. If we journal what we experience, it becomes a ready reference and we can also pass along our lessons learned to others.

Day One  

The Flight Deck

Proverbs 11:14 (KJV): Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.

During flight operations, the flight deck of a carrier is a dangerous place. Powerful jets take off and land at speeds approaching 150 miles per hour, sometimes as close as forty seconds apart. There are large propellers twirling, and sailors must learn to dodge the exhaust blasts from the engines of these mighty aircraft. Thus, a sign is posted for all to see: Authorized Personnel Only. To be safe, those not familiar with the setting should follow someone who knows the way.

Wanting to experience all the sensations of sight, sound, and smell familiar to those who work on the flight deck, I looked for such an experienced person. Master Chief Westmoreland agreed to be my guide but only if I obeyed his every command. I